In this country, you may get fined or jailed for “texting while walking”. Seriously.

Singapore bans driving and texting at the same time, but banning walking and texting seems to be a bit over-the-top, don’t you think? Nevertheless, a lawmaker in New Jersey, USA, has proposed a bill that will fine or even jail pedestrians for using electronics on the street.

Violators would face fines of up to US$50, 15 days imprisonment or both! If this is implemented in Singapore, where smartphone penetration rate is almost 100%, the government would be rolling in money.

A USA National Safety Council report shows that around 11,101 injuries resulted from distracted walking from 2000 through 2011. Most of the victims were female and also younger than 40 years old. These incidents also involved the most common activities of talking on the phone and texting.

Although the bill has not been passed, similar law have been proposed in other states such as Hawaii, where there is a pending bill proposing a USD250 fine for crossing the road with an electronic device. However, similar bills have failed in states like New York, possibly for obvious reason–the city has just too many people who do so.

However, what we think is that having such a measure will make many lives much better. How many times have we bumped into a person who was texting or laughing over the phone instead of watching where they were going in a crowded area? Also, since drivers aren’t allowed to use their phones while driving so as to ensure that other drivers and pedestrians are safe, it’s of course reasonable to get pedestrians to do their own part too.

After all, it’s quite unfair to the driver if he is paying attention to the roads, but a distracted pedestrian suddenly walks in front of his car. Whose fault would it be then? What do you guys think?

Top Image: NaiyanaB / Shutterstock

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